Like most people, I find myself having quite a lot of time to think these days. One of the thoughts that has recently crossed my mind is that I have now had a Twitter account for ten years. The world in 2011 was clearly a very different place. Phrases that are now part of our every day vocabulary were unknown back then – furlough, lockdown, pandemic, self isolation.
It’s worth taking a few moments to reflect on how life was ten years ago –
- The Prime Minister was an Old Etonian who surrounded himself with his posh chums
- Every TV programme seemed to be hosted by either Mel and Sue or by Ant and Dec
- The Labour Party was led by a rather dull man who seemed to be making no impact in the polls
- Everyone was predicting the imminent death of print media
- People in Scotland were getting ready for a referendum on independence
- The BBC was in crisis
- Football’s Premiership was dominated by Manchester teams
- There was much talk in media circles about the growing use of algorithms.
As you can see, a lot of things really haven’t changed very much since 2011. However, even allowing for the global pandemic, there are quite a few things that are markedly different.
Brexit has happened, although it’s probably too early to say what the full impact of this will be. Politics has also given us the rise and fall (hopefully!) of Trumpism. There is now greater awareness of climate change issues, thanks in no small measure to Greta Thunberg.
Newspaper print sales have continued to fall with more and more people relying on social media for their news. The growth of “fake news” has been an unwelcome development and continues to be a worry. On a positive note, social media has also shown that it can be a force for good, as evidenced by the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements.
We could have fun speculating what things might be like in ten years time. Will the United Kingdom still exist? Will there still be a BBC? Time will tell.
Stay Safe.
Ends
dpetrieblog 